Improvement in photographic posing-chairs



WILLIAM H. LEWIS7 OF' NEW YORK, N.

PATENT OFFICE.

Y., ASSIGNOR TO SOOVILL MANUFAC- TURIN Gr COMPANY, OF SAME PLACE.

IMPROVEMENTlN PHOTOGRAPHIC POSING-CHAIRS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 119,090, dated September 19, 1871.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM H. LEwIs, of the city and State of New York, have invented and made a new and useful Improvement in Photographic Posing-Chairs 5 and I do hereby declare the following to be a correct description of the same.

In photographic galleries a chair is often used both as a seat and as a rest for the person to lean against when standing. These chairs are seen more or less in the picture, and should be of a i handsome, ornam ental character. Different persons, however, require diEerent-sized chairs or heights of back to accommodate the various poy sitions, and the costliness of these chairs and the space occupied prevent the use of a number of such chairs; hence posin g-machines or apparatus have been sometimes employed, butthe same are costly, and generally of a character not adapted to being seen in the picture. y

My improved chair is designed to fill the various requirements aforesaid, so that one chair is at the back, partially in section. v

The seatof the chair is formed of the front legs a a, back legs b b, frame c, and upholstery. The legs and frame are to be more or less ornamental and the upholstery of any desired character. The back of the chair is formed of the side pieces d d,

cross orihead-piece e, and lower cross-railf, with suitable upholstery or other ornamental surface, and the frame-work of the back may be more or less ornamented with carved work. The special feature of my improvement relates to forming the back legs b of metal and hollow, so that the side pieces d of the back may slide vertically in them. I make the said legs b closed on the outer and forward sides; the back and inner sides of the legs may be open, as these portions do not show in the photographic picture. The legs b are litted with the vertical rods t', that pass into grooves or holes in the sides pieces d of the back, so that the back can be raised or lowered by being slipped up or 'down upon the said rods i, and in these rods i i are ratchet-teeth or holes, and o o are sliding bolts or pawls at the back portion of the chair, thrown out by a spring or springs, and provided with thumb-pieces, so that the back of the chair will be sustained firmly when brought to the proper position.

This chair is very easily adjusted to suit the position of the person as required for the photographic picture, and the back sliding down behind the seat allows the entire surface ofthe back to be upholstered; but, if desired, the back may be more or less open, and made in wood or other material ornamentally.

I claim as my invention- 1. The photographic posing-chair, formed with the open or hollow back legs b b, in which the lower portions of the side pieces d d of the back slide, substantially as specified.

2. The sliding bolts o o, operated at the back of the chair, in combination with the rods i i, side pieces d d, and legs b b, substantially as set forth.

Dated January 18, 1870.

W. H. LEWIS. Witnesses:

(Inns. EL SMITH, GEO. T. PINGKNEY. 

